


Binding Ties

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [9]
Category: Smallville
Genre: And she really wants to go patrolling, F/M, Friendship, Idiots in Love, Love, Meteor infections, Mia hates school, Oliver likes to cook, Oliver making dad jokes, Queen Mansion, Support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:35:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24227446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: They always say look to the future, but sometimes, looking to the past can help you understand where someone is coming from and where they are going.
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Queen Mansion, Star City -- January 10, 2011**

Things had been going well. A lot more peaceful to say the least. And despite all the work the team had been putting on since they let Chloe and Oliver out of their captive to find Lex, they hadn't been able to get anymore clues, the informant, who Chloe still wasn't convinced _wasn't_ Tess had been completely silent for months and they didn't have anything to go on, so they were doing what they could do, which was the usual patrolling and stopping regular criminals.

But things in Star City were quiet, so quiet that some of the team members decided to skip town for a while, Dinah went up to New Jersey, where she had family, and Bart to Central City, they both still checked in every night with Watchtower while they were out patrolling. But during the day, they didn't have much to do, Mia was back in school and one day, Oliver decided Chloe should see his parents' house.

So that was where they were. She got out of the car and raised her eyebrows a little. It was a big house, huge in fact, but unlike the Luthor mansion and even the Wayne mansion, it wasn't... pretentious. It looked like a home and nothing like Chloe had imagined, "wow..."

Oliver got out of the car as well, glancing over at her and then back at the mansion. He hadn't been there in a very long time and his stomach was tight. "Not what you were expecting?" he asked quietly.

"Not exactly," she admitted, looking over at him, "considering what the other billionaire mansions I've seen look like," she smiled a little.

He nodded slightly, meeting her eyes for a moment. "Yeah, it's pretty different," he admitted, drawing in a breath and letting out slowly.

Chloe watched him for a moment, "we don't have to go in if you don't want to," she assured him, "we can come back later."

"No, it's okay. I just...haven't been here in awhile," he admitted, looking toward the front of the house.

She nodded and hesitated, then stepped closer and reached for his hand.

Oliver slid his hand into hers without hesitation, lacing their fingers together wordlessly.

Chloe squeezed his hand and nodded a little, smiling slightly, "take your time."

He nodded, as well, then slowly led them toward the front door, pulling his keys from his pocket.

She walked with him, looking around the front yard, everything seemed perfectly well kept and she didn't have to ask to know that he still had staff working on the house, or at least, on the outside of it, she wasn't sure what it would look like, but for his sake, she hoped it looked good, clean, like he remembered it.

Oliver paused at the front door before sliding his key into the lock. He glanced at her sideways then turned the door knob and opened the door, motioning for her to go first.

Pursing her lips together, she looked at him for a moment then stepped inside, eyes widening a little as she saw that all the furniture had been covered in sheets and although the place seemed perfectly clean, it definitely didn't look like home.

He followed her inside, exhaling slowly as he glanced around. "Not what you were expecting in here either, huh?" His voice was soft.

"Not really," she admitted, looking over at him and watching him carefully.

He offered her a small, faint smile. "I pay people to keep it clean, but..." He shook his head. "I don't live here and I don't...come here very often," he admitted. "I haven't been here since I was twenty-one."

She nodded, squeezing his hand, "at least this way you are preserving the furniture and the house."

He squeezed her hand in return. "It's kind of stupid though, isn't it? To have the place and not use it?"

"Well, this place brings a lot of memories, Ollie, maybe one day you'll be ready to live here again, but it's understandable if you're not yet." Chloe assured him, smiling softly.

He gazed at her for a moment. "I think most people just think I'm one of those eccentric rich guys that has to have multiple houses."

"Real Estate is a good investment?" She suggested, smiling, "besides, you don't have that many, you have the clock tower, which makes sense since you spend so much time in Metropolis, you have the penthouse, which is on top of your company anyway so it doesn't really count, this one is your heritage and well, the headquarters doesn't make sense to anyone else, but we know why you have that one."

Oliver smiled faintly, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Come on, I'll give you a tour," he said quietly.

She nodded a little, lifting her free hand to his arm and rubbing it a little, "okay."

He wound his arm around her waist, guiding her into the large kitchen area. "My mom loved to cook," he told her with a small smile. "Even though my dad kept offering to hire a cook so she didn't have to, she always turned him down."

Chloe looked around for a moment and smiled softly, nodding, "do you remember what kind of food she used to make?"

"She could make anything." He smiled. "Mostly I remember Saturday morning breakfasts. Homemade pancakes or French toast, eggs and bacon."

She smiled at him too, "pancakes were my mom's specialties, but other than that, my family never really did much of the cooking thing, Aunt Ella, Lois' mom was the cook in the family."

His eyes softened a little. She rarely spoke about her mother and when she did, it was brief and she changed the subject. "Did your mom put chocolate chips in your pancakes?"

"You mean there is another way of making pancakes?" She teased softly, smiling a little at him.

He grinned. "Not legally," he teased back.

"Didn't think so," she smiled at him, "did you usually help her when she was cooking?" She asked curiously, Ollie was a surprisingly good cook and although he was young when his parents passed away, it would probably explain why he enjoyed cooking.

"Not really." He smiled a bit. "I just watched a lot."

Chloe nodded a little, "what about your dad? Did he like to cook?"

Oliver shook his head a little. "He liked to grill once in awhile but...he uh...he wasn't around that much. Work," he explained.

"Oh," she nodded, raising her eyebrows, "and your mom just stayed at home?" She kept watching him closely, making sure her questions weren't upsetting him.

"Sometimes," he told her, nodding slightly, and leaning against the kitchen counter. "Sometimes she traveled with my dad."

"Who did you stay with then?" She asked, "or did you go too?"

"I stayed behind with staff," he said quietly. "Which I hated."

Chloe made a face and nodded a little, watching him, "I can imagine that wasn't easy," she had seen how much Lois hated being left behind with whatever nanny that was brave enough to agree to work for the Lanes that week and watch Lois and Lucy while the General was traveling.

He looked down at the floor for a long moment. "I was a brat."

She smiled a little at the confession, "weren't we all? What kind of things did you do?"

Oliver glanced up at her. "No, I mean...I was angry with them for leaving me behind all the time," he said quietly. "The last thing I told my mom was that I wanted new parents."

"Oh," her face fell and she shook her head a little, stepping closer to him and taking his hand, "I'm sorry, Ollie... I'm sure they didn't resent you, kids say those things."

He nodded a little. "I know," he murmured.

Chloe watched him silently for a moment, "I'm sure they wouldn't want you to think about that, they would want you to focus on the happy memories."

Oliver drew in a breath and hesitantly slipped his arms around her, resting his chin atop her head.

She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him too, hugging him tightly.

He closed his eyes for a long moment. "Want to see the rest of the house?"

"Yeah," she pulled back just enough to look up at him, but keeping her arms around him, "as long as you're up for it."

Oliver nodded slightly, dipping his head and kissing the corner of her mouth. "I am. Let's go."

Chloe turned her head and pressed a kiss to his lips for a moment then pulled back, "lead the way."

He smiled softly when she kissed him, and reached down, taking her hand once more.

She linked her fingers with his and followed him out of the kitchen and back in the main room, looking around in silence.

He guided her around the main floor, showing her the dining area and the sun porch. Then he led her up the stairs, his grip on her hand tightening just a fraction. 

"Why did you come here when you were twenty-one?" She asked quietly, walking with him.

"I'd just gotten back from my very unplanned two year trip," he told her softly. "I came back to get the bow that my dad had gotten me when I was a kid."

"Oh," she smiled a little, squeezing his hand, "I didn't know you were interested in archery since you were little."

A small smile touched his lips. "Robin Hood was my childhood hero."

"Right," she smiled a little, "I knew that."

"Who was yours?" he asked curiously.

"April O'Neil," she admitted, smiling a little.

Oliver grinned at that. "The reporter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." He nodded a little.

"Yep, guess I always had a thing for heroes," she smirked a little.

He paused. "So it started with _turtles_?" An amused smirk tugged at his lips.

Chloe made a face and shook her head, "please don't put it that way."

"Turtles are green." He grinned brightly.

She laughed softly and squeezed his hand, "they are."

"So you've always had a thing for heroes with a thing for green." He smirked, winding his arms around her.

Chloe smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling, "sounds like I did, maybe I haven't changed all that much."

He kissed her softly. "Guess that makes me a lucky guy."

She brushed her thumb over his cheek and smiled, kissing him again. They had both been feeling so much more relaxed and, well just _happier_ since they agreed to start over and although thinking about where they were going and what was going to happen made her a little nervous, she just did her best not to think about it at all. There was no point in trying to predict the future, so she was just going to enjoy what they had right then.

"I'll show you my room," he told her, reaching up and taking her hand in his.

"Okay," she agreed, looking at the paintings on the walls as they walked down the hallways, "your parents were interested in art, then?"

Oliver nodded slightly. "Yeah, Mom more than Dad, but yeah. She liked to paint in her free time, but mostly she just bought other people's paintings."

"Are any of these hers?" Chloe asked, nodding toward the paintings on the walls.

He shook his head. "She didn't want to hang any of her stuff up. She didn't think it was good enough."

Squeezing his hand lightly, she nodded, looking at Ollie, "do you have any of them?"

"The one in my room is one she did," he told her softly. "At headquarters."

"Oh," she smiled softly, "I like that one, if you have more, we can hang some around the house."

"You think the others would mind?" he asked uncertainly.

"Definitely not," she told him, "in fact, I doubt the guys would notice anything different for a long time."

At that, he smirked a little. "Considering their superhero status, their powers of observation are lacking, aren't they?"

With a smirk, she raised her eyebrows and nodded, "it's a guy thing, although apparently _you_ don't really suffer from it."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "All things considered, my senses have to be sharper than most people's."

Chloe considered for a moment and nodded, raising her eyebrows a little, "true, but you could be sharp when you are out there and be completely oblivious when it comes to everything else."

"True," he said with a slight nod.

She squeezed his hand and shrugged, "it happens a lot with guys, trust me," she told him.

"But not with me?" He studied her.

"For some reason, no," she smiled a little and shrugged, "I don't know how to explain, but with Clark, Jimmy, even my dad, sometimes it felt like I was trying to explain something and they would just stare at me with this blank look, like they had no idea what I was saying. That never happens with you."

His expression softened. "I think that's because you and I _get_ each other," he said quietly.

"We do, don't we?" She agreed, smiling softly up at him.

"Better than anyone else." He lifted a hand to her cheek.

She leaned into his touch and watched him, nodding a little, "c'mon," she said with a soft smile and tugged on the hand she was still holding, "I wanna see your old room."

Oliver kissed her forehead, nodding a little and let her tug him down the hallway. "The third door on the left."

Chloe walked down the hallway and stopped by the door he had indicated, glancing up at him then opening it slowly.

He smiled a bit and followed her inside, exhaling slowly.

She paused when she walked inside, her eyes widening a little, the room was _huge_ and although the furniture there was also covered in sheets, she could see some paintings on the walls and, not surprisingly, she could see a wooden bullseye on one of the walls as well. "This is probably bigger than our entire first apartment in Metropolis," she told him.

He chuckled softly at that. "Can't say I wasn't fortunate there."

"Seriously," she smirked softly at him, "I would have been so jealous if I knew you when we were kids."

Oliver smiled at her. "Any chance I'll get to see the house you grew up in?"

"The Smallville one?" She asked, raising her eyebrows a little.

He nodded a little, watching her.

Chloe shrugged and nodded, smiling softly, "if you want to, I'm sure there's people living in there now, though."

"When did you guys move?" he asked curiously, realizing he had no idea.

"Well, I moved out when I started college in Metropolis," she told him, "dad stayed for a few months longer, then his brother convinced him to move to Maine and help him with his business."

"When's the last time you saw him?" Oliver asked, gazing at her.

"Graduation," she admitted, smiling a little. Her dad had tried to make it down on time for her wedding, but due to bad weather, he had ended up stuck at the airport, which in retrospect, Chloe was grateful for.

"It's been awhile then," he murmured, searching her eyes.

"Yeah," Chloe took a deep breath then shook her head, "it's hard for him to get down to Metropolis, and with everything we always have going on, I think it's better if he stays away. It's safer."

Oliver's eyes were sad as he gazed at her. "I'm sorry, Chloe," he murmured.

She shook her head a little and gave him a quick sad smile, "don't be," she told him quietly, "he sounds happy when we talk and I think he even got himself a girlfriend."

"Yeah, but he's your dad. You miss him." It wasn't a question.

Chloe nodded a little and took a deep breath, "maybe I'll go see him when this is over."

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "Do you think..."

"If you want to," she answered quietly, pursing her lips together a little and watching him, her eyes a little wide.

A smile tugged at his lips involuntarily and he ducked his head, nodding.

Chloe squeezed his hand and nodded a little, smiling softly then letting out a deep breath, "so what kind of adventures did you have when you were here?"

Oliver moved over and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Hide and seek was a blast," he said with a small smile. "Never ran out of places to hide."

"Oh, I bet," she smiled at him then walked over to the bed too and sat down next to him, "that was always one of my favorites too."

He grinned. "Were you a troublemaker?" he teased.

"More like a trouble magnet, but that's not surprising," she grinned a little, "Lois usually got in trouble and I tagged along for the ride, I always tried to behave..." she trailed off, shrugging a shoulder, "for a few years anyway."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." He smirked, studying her. "What kind of trouble did the two of you get into together when you were younger?"

"Where to begin..." she smiled a little, "I think the worst time was once when I had spent the day with Lois and the nanny had... an appointment or something, and my dad was supposed to pick us up, but he had gotten stuck at work, so she dropped us off at the base, the General had one of his soldiers show us to an office and told us to stay there, which, of course, we didn't," Chloe smirked a little, "we went exploring, we found some kind of underground tunnel and walked right into it, but apparently, we set off some kind of alarm and all of the sudden, bright red lights were shining, the base was in lockdown, the alarms were sounding and we found ourselves surrounded by angry men with guns. I was seven, Lois was eight."

Oliver chuckled. "Yeah. I can picture that." He leaned back on the bed, resting on his elbows and watching her. "So what happened then?"

"Well, the General got called and took us back to his office and locked us in until dad got there, neither of them were pleased, and I'm sure Lois was grounded longer than I was, but I don't really remember that far back," she turned slightly on the bed so she could see him better.

He grinned a little. "Tiny Sullivan-Lane's wreaking havoc on a military base. Wish I could have seen it."

Chloe grinned back at him and nodded, "neither one of us had a good start with authority figures?"

"It explains a lot," he teased with an amused smile.

"What's the fun in that, anyway?" She pointed out and shrugged, "but it was mostly Lo, rebelling because the General didn't pay enough attention to her, I really wish she had come live with us when Lucy left."

Oliver was quiet for a moment. "Probably would have been the best thing for both of you."

Nodding, she took a deep breath and stayed quiet for a moment longer too then smiled a little, "poor dad, it would have been hard on him."

He reached out and laced his fingers through hers, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

She squeezed his hand back and smiled softly at him, "thank you for bringing me here."

"Thank you for coming with me," he said quietly.

With a nod, she held his gaze and squeezed his hand again, watching him, "think you will ever want to live here again?"

He considered that for a moment. "Maybe someday," he said softly. "You know, whenever I get married." He gazed at her.

Chloe blinked and looked away, she hadn't been expecting _that_ particular answer, "right, that makes sense."

"I wouldn't want to live here alone," he admitted. "Too many ghosts."

She took a deep breath, glad for the slight change in the direction of the conversation, "it probably wouldn't be healthy for you."

"Come on," he murmured, realizing he'd made her uncomfortable. "I wanna show you the backyard."

Raising her eyebrows, she nodded a little and took another deep breath before standing up, "okay."

Oliver rose to his feet, as well, giving her hand a squeeze and leading her out of the room.

Chloe followed silently, squeezing his hand back, she didn't want him to think she was mad at him in any way for bringing up the subject, and she was glad he had moved on from it without another word about it, but she was far from being ready to think about anything marriage-related. She could barely admit that the two of them were, in fact in a relationship as it was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Queen Lab & Research Facility, Star City -- January 12, 2011**

After going to Ollie's parents mansion and spending hours sharing stories about their childhoods and families, Chloe couldn't help but keep thinking of her family and how little she saw of them nowadays. So that evening, she spent hours on the phone with her dad, catching up and hearing his stories, telling him about how things were going in Star City, as much as she could anyway, and asking every question she could think of. The next morning, she called Lois and spent a lot of time talking to her too.

Now she only really had one other person to talk to, except this conversation would be harder because her mom couldn't talk back. Still, Chloe asked Oliver if he would mind going with her to the facility where her mom had been staying for years. The last time Chloe had seen Moira was years ago, when she had been in town to see Jimmy after Doomsday attacked him, but she had had so much going on as it was, seeing her mom in her vegetative state was more than she could handle at the time, so she didn't spend more than ten minutes with her.

"Thanks for coming with me," she told Oliver as they walked inside the building, her stomach in knots, even if she knew her mom couldn't see her, she still felt nervous about seeing her again.

"You're welcome," he said softly, reaching out and resting his hand lightly on her shoulder blades, guiding her into the elevator and massaging the back of her neck with his thumb.

Chloe rotated her neck a little and took a deep breath, willing herself to relax, "it's so silly to be nervous, it's not like she can see me."

"It's not silly," he told her, lifting his other hand to her neck, as well, and dropping a kiss to the top of her head.

She stepped into the elevator as he led her toward it, "I just wish she'd wake up again, at least long enough for us to have a real conversation, one without Lex running after us."

He followed her into it and pressed the button for the floor her mom resided on. "They're working every day," he admitted softly. "To try and make that happen."

"I know," Chloe said quietly, looking up at him, "but she won't let us keep her awake, she'll say she's too dangerous."

"No, Chloe, I meant...they're working to try and reverse the meteor infection." He held his breath.

She blinked and looked up at him, her eyes a little wide, all Oliver had told her, back when he had first taken her mom into his care, was that he would do whatever it took to keep her safe and to help her. But they had never really talked about how he was trying to help her, "they are?"

Oliver nodded slightly, meeting her gaze.

"Do you think it's possible?" She whispered, watching him closely, her chest suddenly a little tight with hope.

"After everything we've seen, I can't rule anything out," he said quietly. "But I didn't tell you because...I didn't want to give you false hope if it didn't work."

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded a little, "maybe... if they experimented with blue kryptonite? Do you think that that could work?"

He paused. "Yeah, maybe. I can bring it up to the doctors," he said softly, lifting a hand to her cheek.

She leaned into his touch and looked up at him, her eyes big, "you do so much..."

Oliver leaned in and kissed her forehead softly. "The doctors are the ones doing the work. Not me."

"They wouldn't be doing anything if it wasn't for you," she pulled back a little and looked up at him, holding his gaze, "thank you, Oliver." She said seriously, even before they got close, when they had only met a couple of times, he had already agreed to take care of her mom, and then of Jimmy and he had taken care of her whether she liked it or not and now that she was really thinking about this and all the things he did for her, she knew that their decision to start over was the right one. How could she ever think she could not have him in her life anymore? That would be the biggest mistake she'd ever made and she'd made a lot of bad decisions in the past.

He studied her, sensing some kind of internal shift as she gazed at him, as she thanked him. "You're welcome," he said softly, his eyebrows furrowing just slightly.

She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when the elevator doors opened, turning to look outside the elevator car and taking in a deep, shaky breath, her chest now tight for more reasons than one, she swallowed and glanced up at him before stepping out of the elevator.

Oliver reached down and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. "A few months ago I had her moved to a room further down the hall. It was a little bigger," he told her, glancing down at her.

"I'm sure she would have appreciated that," she whispered, pursing her lips into a thin, tense line, but trying for a small smile anyway.

He nodded a little and fell silent, guiding her down the hallway to the room her mom was in and glancing at her sideways.

Chloe paused just outside the door when they stopped walking and pursed her lips together before reaching for the knob with her free hand.

"We can stay however long you want, and we go whenever you're ready," he said quietly.

"Okay," she said quietly, opening the door and squeezing his hand tighter as she stepped into the room without even noticing she was doing it, her chest tightening when her eyes fell on the still form of her mom on the bed.

Oliver followed her inside, closing the door behind them quietly.

She hesitated for a moment then let go of his hand, blowing out a breath as she walked closer to the bed, her eyes on the woman's face. She moved to stand next to the bed and hesitated for a second before brushing her mom's hair from her face, "hi," she said in a whisper.

He bit his lower lip and then slowly headed over to sit down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed from where Chloe was.

Chloe raised her head and glanced at him, smiling a little, she knew she should tell him he didn't have to stay there and wait with her, but she didn't want him to feel like he wasn't welcome to, besides, she didn't really want him to leave. She turned back to her mom again and leaned against the side of the bed, hesitating for a moment before covering her hand with hers and squeezing it lightly.

Oliver gazed at her, offering her a small, encouraging smile. "Hi, Mrs. Sullivan," he said quietly. It wasn't the first time he'd visited Chloe's mother. Since she'd arrived in Star City nearly four years ago, he'd come by a few times to check in on her personally. And though the woman obviously had no idea he was there, he always felt like it was important that she have visitors that weren't doctors and nurses.

"Do you think she can hear us?" Chloe asked, she knew they said people in comas could tell when their family was around, but her mom wasn't in a regular coma.

"I think so," he said softly, glancing over at her and nodding a little.

She glanced at him then nodded, swallowing and looking back at her mom, "I should visit more often. I'm sorry I haven't been here." She said quietly.

"I've kept her pretty busy," Oliver told Moira with a small smile. "With that whole world-saving gig."

Chloe smiled softly and squeezed her mom's hand, "don't believe what he's saying, he has been helping with it."

"It's a team effort, but your daughter pretty much holds us all together and keeps us in line." He glanced at Chloe and smiled.

She smiled a little and looked over at him, her face softening a little then she shook her head, "he's the one who is always getting me out of trouble," she told her.

"We get each other out of trouble," he corrected.

"I can agree with that," Chloe said with a nod then took a deep breath, "but now that I live here, I can still come by between missions." She promised.

He gazed at her, falling silent.

Sighing softly, Chloe leaned down and pressed a kiss to her mom's forehead, "it's good to see you."

Oliver slowly moved around the bed so he was standing beside Chloe, taking her free hand in his.

Chloe looked down at their hands then up at him, smiling faintly.

"You look like her," he said softly, looking at Chloe and then at her mom.

"You think so?" She asked quietly, her eyes back on her mom.

"Yeah, I do," he murmured, giving her hand a squeeze.

She smiled a little and looked at him, "you've never met my dad, right?"

"No, I haven't. Do people tell you that you look like him, too?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah," she admitted, smiling a little, "I guess I'm a mix of them."

"A beautiful mix of them," he told her with a smile.

Chloe shook her head and smiled, "what about you?"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head in response.

"Well, when I was looking at the articles, I thought you looked like your dad, or at least, you two have the same smile, but I think you have your mom's nose, I would need to look at the pictures again," she told him quietly, cocking her head as she watched him.

A small smile touched his lips and he leaned over wordlessly and kissed her temple.

She closed her eyes for a moment then turned back to her mom. There was a lot she wanted to say to her, but she would do that sometime she was alone, so she just talked about nothing, feeling more relaxed the more they talked. They stayed for a long time and eventually, Chloe looked over at Oliver, who was standing next to her, "I think she's probably tired of hearing me talk," she smiled a little.

He gazed at her for a moment, then nodded slightly. "You ready to go then?" he asked softly. "Or do you...want me to give you a minute alone?"

"We can go," she said quietly, then leaned down pressing a kiss to her mom's forehead again and whispering, "I love you."

Oliver's chest tightened a little and he squeezed her hand gently before leading her out of the room.

Chloe followed, still holding on to his hand and taking a deep breath once they were outside, "this was... easier than last time," she said quietly, "thanks for staying with me."

"You're welcome," he said just as quietly. "I know this isn't easy."

Pursing her lips together, she nodded a little, "I'll call J'onn when we get back, ask him if he knows where the blue kryptonite dagger Zod used on Clark is and see if he can send it to us."

He bit his lip, nodding a little. "And if he doesn't, I'll track some down somehow." His voice was soft.

"Maybe Tess has some?" Chloe suggested, as much as she didn't like the other woman, and didn't like Oliver talking to her, she had to admit she was resourceful.  
Oliver paused, considering that. "Probably," he agreed, sliding his arm around her waist. "If J'onn doesn't have the dagger, I'll find out."

Chloe leaned into him and wrapped an arm around his back, nodding and squinting a little, "okay. Thank you."

"Anytime," he whispered.

She pursed her lips together and nodded, hugging him a little more as they walked back into the elevator. Now that she had seen her mom and felt more relaxed, she just wanted to figure out a way to let Oliver know how much she appreciated everything he'd been doing for her. If finding him a Christmas present was hard, this would be a lot harder.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, squeezing her gently to his side.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said just as quietly, looking up at him and smiling softly.

Oliver nodded a little, meeting her eyes and holding her gaze. "What do you say we do something low-key tonight?" he suggested. "Maybe grab something to eat and watch a movie or something."

"We never did get to do that before," she nodded, holding his gaze back, "sounds nice."

He curled his fingers around hers and kissed her forehead, letting his eyes close. "Good."

Chloe closed her eyes too and leaned closed to him, tightening her other arm around him.

He wanted to tell her that it would be okay. That he would somehow find a cure for her mom, and she could build a relationship with her like she'd never been able to before. But he wouldn't make her any promises he wasn't sure he could keep. Instead, he just held her tightly, and hoped that for now, that was enough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Star City HQ -- January 20, 2011**

Headquarters was startlingly quiet for a change. Even if there were only a couple of people there, the place wasn't usually _this_ quiet. Shaking his head a little, he moved into the kitchen, a little caught off guard to see Mia and Chloe sitting at the table, a textbook opened in front of them as they talked quietly. "Ladies." He smiled at them. "What's up?" 

"Calculus," Chloe told him, smiling softly up at him. She had come into the kitchen to get a refill on her coffee and saw Mia struggling with her homework. To her surprise, the younger girl actually accepted the help when Chloe offered it.

Oliver made a face at that. "Fun stuff."

Mia made a face, "you could just buy my degree, it would be the best birthday present."

A smirk touched his lips. "And here I thought a motorcycle would be the best birthday present." He headed over to the fridge.

"I can wait until Christmas for that," she told him.

Chloe smirked and shook her head a little, "I don't think you have a way out of this one, Mia."

"Not so much," he agreed with her, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "But how about I make some breakfast to help kickstart the brain cells going a little faster?"

"Well," she sighed, closing the heavy book with a thud, "the least you can do is feed me between the torture sessions."

Chloe grinned a little, "I won't say no to food either."

Oliver smiled. It was nice to see the two of them getting along so well. "All right. Pancakes, eggs and bacon coming right up."

"We can go practice afterward," Mia said brightly, standing up and walking over to the fridge.

"I guess... I should get started on that..." Chloe said, looking over at Oliver, they had spoken about him training her again the previous week and she agreed that she could use some practice.

"As soon as calculus homework is all finished," he agreed with a nod, glancing at Mia, then at Chloe. "I'm not going into the office today, so I've got the entire day."

Mia rolled her eyes and placed the orange juice and the milk on the table, "figures, you get to have fun while I'm stuck here with that," she said, pointing at the book with a disgusted look on her face.

"If it makes you feel any better, training for me is going to be as painful as calculus is for you," Chloe told her.

A smile tugged at his mouth as he looked between them. "Hey, at least neither of you has to get grilled at a stockholder's meeting next week. Consider yourselves lucky." He broke some eggs into a skillet on the stove and tossed the shells in the garbage.

"Please. I'd gladly handle those greasy old men," Chloe told him, standing up and pulling glasses and plates from the cupboard.

"Training is still better, you get to _punch_ things." Mia pointed out.

"Don't forget kicking and shooting at them," he responded with a smirk.

"Better, you get to kick _him_ ," Mia told Chloe with a smirk.

Chloe grinned at that and raised her eyebrows, "that's something to look forward to," she teased.

"You do both realize _I'm_ the one cooking you breakfast, right?" Oliver raised an eyebrow and turned to look at them.

"Should we say these things _behind_ your back?" Mia asked, smirking.

"Technically you were," he said, returning her smirk, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Chloe shook her head and patted Oliver's back as she walked past him and reached for the napkins.

"Funny," Mia said with a smirk and a shake of her head.

He grinned a little. "I'm a funny guy," he responded, shuffling the eggs around on the skillet.

"Does anyone else want coffee?" Chloe asked, starting the coffee maker again since she had finished her cup while helping Mia.

"I'll have some," Mia said with a shrug.

"Already have some," Oliver said, nodding slightly toward his cup. Even though he didn't drink the stuff normally, once in awhile it did help clear the morning cobwebs from his mind left over from sleep.

"I'll make extra, I'm sure I'll drink it anyway." Chloe told them, "french vanilla okay with you, Mia?"

"Yeah, whichever," Mia said with a shrug.

"How are classes going?" Oliver asked, glancing at Mia sideways.

"Still boring," she told him, pouring orange juice into a glass and drinking it.

An amused smile touched his lips. "Well, it _is_ school."

"At least you're almost done," Chloe pointed out, leaning back against the counter and looking over at the two of them as she waited for the coffee.

"A year and half," Mia pointed out, making a face, "feels like eternity right now."

"It'll go by faster than you can imagine," Oliver told her with a small smile. "Trust me on that one."

"Especially your senior year," Chloe agreed, "besides, you should enjoy your summer this year, it will be the last real one."

Mia shrugged her shoulders, "and do what?" She hadn't really had a summer in a long time.

"Whatever you want," Oliver said, glancing at her again. "Within reason of course," he added with amusement.

"Maybe you will finally let me go on patrols then, _that_ would be fun," Mia said hopefully.

"We'll see," he responded, glancing down at the skillet, his stomach tensing at the thought.

Chloe saw him tense and shrugged, looking at Mia, "well, I was thinking more along the lines of entertainment, maybe you can get AC to teach you how to surf?" She suggested.

Mia rolled her eyes at Oliver then sat back down on her chair with a huff, "we'll see."

He sighed softly, moving over to the fridge to get some bacon out. "Windsurfing, water-skiing, snorkeling...there's a lot of opportunities for stuff like that here that weren't in Kansas."

"I don't like the ocean that much," Mia lies stubbornly, in reality, she couldn't wait for it to be warm enough again so she could just spend the entire day out on the beach.

At that, he turned around and gave her a look. "Uh huh."

Despite her best effort to continue to glare at him, Mia smirked and shrugged.

He smirked back at her. "Thought so." He turned to face the stove again, tossing a few strips of bacon onto the skillet.

Chloe grinned softly at the exchange and shook her head, preparing two mugs of coffee and placing one in front of Mia, "nice try," Chloe told her with a smile.

Mia just shrugged and took her mug, still smirking slightly.

He grinned, too. "So what other homework do we have this weekend besides calculus?" he asked, flipping the bacon.

"Nothing," Mia told him, relaxing against her chair, "I'm done."

"Excellent." Oliver smiled again, taking a sip of his coffee and then scooping some eggs onto three plates.

"You could reward me by taking me patrolling with you tonight," she tried once more.

"Or I could point out that education is a reward in and of itself," he responded without missing a beat.

She groaned and shook her head, "that was so bad."

Chloe grinned and sipped on her coffee, watching the two of them.

"Ah, bad but true," Oliver said with a grin.

"Whatever," she grinned, "I was promised food."

He carried two plates over to the table, setting one in front of Mia, and one in front of Chloe. "So demanding," he teased.

"What? You promised." Mia teased back, sitting up straight and looking down at her plate.

"It smells amazing and I'm not even that much of a breakfast person," unless it was served in bed, normally but of course, Oliver knew that. They weren't back to that point just yet, they had even been spending the night in their separate bedrooms.

Oliver met Chloe's eyes for a brief moment and a smirk tugged at his lips. "Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells then."

She shrugged a little at him and smirked back, and she knew what he was thinking about, but she just turned her attention back to her plate, "we'll see."

He winked at her and headed back to the stove. "Think you'll be hungry enough for pancakes?" he asked them.

"I won't be, I've already had three cups of coffee," Chloe told him.

Mia considered then shrugged, "probably not, but we can have them for lunch!"

Oliver chuckled at her enthusiasm. "All right." He carried his own plate to the table and sat down in the chair between them, taking a bite of eggs.

* * *

Later that night, after training, Chloe was on the couch, only half conscious and laying on Oliver as they watched the news, her body was sore from all the exercise, but she knew it would be, that was what she got for never stepping foot on a gym except when she had to meet her cousin in one.

She frowned a little when she heard something in the background, lifting her head as she made sense of what the disturbance was, "your phone," she told him tiredly.

He yawned a little, looking up from the TV and over to where his phone lay a few feet away. Sighing, he forced himself to get off the sofa and pick it up off the table. "Hello?"

"Oliver." A female voice breathed on the other side.

He paused, glancing at Chloe over his shoulder even as his eyebrows furrowed. "Tess," he said, guardedly.

Chloe sat up immediately at the name and looked at Oliver over the back of the couch.

"Are you in Metropolis?" She whispered into the receiver.

"No, I'm not. Why, what's going on?" He frowned at the fact she was whispering.

"I need to see you."

"Are you all right?" He glanced at Chloe again, shaking his head a little.

She raised her eyebrows and stared at him, trying to read the expression on his face.

"You're in danger," Tess told him as quietly as possible, "I need to see you."

"When?" he asked quietly, holding Chloe's gaze and shrugging one shoulder uncertainly. "What kind of danger?"

"How fast can you make it here?"

"I can be there by tomorrow," he said warily.

Chloe frowned and sat up straighter, watching him.

"Four PM in your office." She told him, and the line went dead.

He pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it for a moment, then sighed softly and hung it up, looking back at Chloe once more.

"What did she want?" She asked, frowning and ignoring the tightening of her stomach that had nothing to do with concern for the other woman.

"She said she needed to see me." He drew in a breath and let it out slowly, moving over to sit down once more. "Tomorrow. That I'm in some kind of danger."

At _that_ particular information Chloe frowned harder, "you're in danger?" And now her chest was tightening and it had all to do with concern for _his_ safety, "did she tell you anything else?"

"She told me to meet her at my office tomorrow at 4 p.m.," he said with a soft sigh.

Chloe swallowed, watching him, "I'm coming with you."

He gazed at her intently. "Chloe, she may have information and if we're there together..."

Her jaw tightened, "she won't see me."

Oliver paused as he saw her visibly tense. "All right."

With a deep breath, she nodded and stood up, her legs aching from the exercise, but she ignored it, "we should go in early, make sure there are no bugs in the room, and then you should make sure you have security around when she's in there, I doubt she would do anything in there, but we should make sure."

He watched her for a moment, then rose to his feet, reaching out and resting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be careful."

Chloe took a deep breath when he placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded a little, pursing her lips together.

"Chloe." His voice was quiet and he shifted closer to her.

She just looked up at him but didn't say anything, her mind working as fast as it could to try and figure out what Tess could possibly be planning and what kinds of threats could possibly present themselves tomorrow.

"Hey." He dipped his head and kissed her softly, cupping her cheek with one hand.

Returning the kiss, she lifted a hand to his chest and pulled back after a moment, "if Lex brought her back at a price, and if this price is you, do you think she would hand you to him?" She asked finally, her chest tight, her eyes big as she thought of just one of the many possibilities.

His eyes softened at the question and he slid his free arm around her, gazing at her intently. "We're not going to let that happen, even if that is the plan."

Chloe hesitated for a second, she really wanted to run upstairs and make a list of possible dangers and ways to avoid each one of them, but she sighed and nodded a little, wrapping his arms around him and holding his gaze, the fact that he seemed to agree that Tess would be capable of it only made her worry more.

"We'll be okay," he whispered, kissing her ear softly.

She shivered slightly at the kiss and closed her eyes, "promise you'll be as careful as you can be," she said quietly.

"I promise," he murmured.

Tightening her arms around him, she nodded a little, "Victor is coming back tonight, he can stay with Mia."

"Hopefully we won't be gone more than a couple days," he said softly, kissing her temple.

"Hopefully," she agreed, "but I will alert the others, just in case this turns out to be more than a meeting."

"Good idea." He pulled back just enough to look at her.

"I can bug the room, set up next door and if anything happens, they can get there." She said, frowning as she tried to think still.

Oliver gazed at her intently, nodding, his eyes worried. "Come on. We can talk about it tomorrow," he said softly.

Chloe frowned more at that, "I was thinking of going upstairs and seeing how we can prepare."

"It's late," he murmured, tucking some hair behind her ear. "You should sleep."

"I doubt I'll be able to," she told him, looking away then back at him, her body was exhausted, but her brain was fully awake now.

"You know." He rested his hands on her hips. "I could probably help you out with that," he murmured, nuzzling her neck with his nose.

She sighed and closed her eyes, "how can you be so relaxed about this?" She asked, but didn't pull away.

He smiled against her skin, kissing her there softly. "Because I know we'll be okay."

"She said you’re in danger," Chloe pointed out, tightening her hold on him slightly.

"Chloe." His voice was quiet. "I'm always in danger. We all are."

She sighed softly at that and leaned her head forward, resting her forehead on his chest. He had a point, and maybe she would spend some time with him, but that didn't mean that once they were done, she wouldn't sneak out to the computer room and make the list she wanted to make, because even though they were always in danger, there was a big difference between patrolling kind of danger and possibly being followed by Lex Luthor kind of danger.

He pressed his lips against the top of her head, smoothing a hand down her back. "Come on," he whispered.

Chloe pulled back and looked up at him, shaking her head and smiling faintly.

"Relax," he murmured, searching her eyes.

Holding his gaze, she raised an eyebrow, "you won't give me much of a choice, will you?"

Oliver grinned at her brightly. "Not if I can help it."

She rolled her eyes a little but smiled, placing a hand back on his chest, "that's what I thought."

He brushed his nose against hers and kissed her softly, a short, teasing kiss. "What was that?"

"Uh huh," Chloe said, turning her head and kissing him again.

He smiled, sliding a hand beneath the back of her shirt and sliding his thumb lightly over her bare skin. "What do you say we take this upstairs?"

Chloe looked up at him, her eyes darker than usual, because despite how worried she was, Oliver's touch always affected her, "I think that would be advisable..."

He kissed her softly once more, then reached out and took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and guiding her toward the stairs. They would deal with whatever happened tomorrow. Tonight was theirs.


End file.
